Nicolas Picon

STUDENT LEADERSHIP · COMMUNITY

AI Spark · Foster AI Day

AI Day Committee · Hackathon Lead

May 15, 2026 · UW Foster

Led the hackathon effort within Foster’s student-led day of AI speakers, workshops, networking, and hands-on building.

UW Foster feature

From the Tech Club to AI Spark

After the MBA Tech Club hackathon work, I was nominated to join the Foster AI Day committee and lead its hackathon. AI Spark let students use AI on a real business problem instead of only talking about it.

Read the earlier hackathon story →

What the team delivered

150+

Students attended AI Day

The day included speakers, workshops, networking, and hands-on AI learning.

$1K+

Hackathon prizes awarded

Prizes went to hackathon participants for their work.

Sponsor support

Secured for the event

The hackathon was sponsored by UW Foster School of Business, Lovable, Databricks, and T-Mobile.

My contribution

Format, challenge & evaluation

I created the hackathon format, problem statement, schedule, submission expectations, and judging criteria. The challenge was open to beginners: students applied AI tools to a concrete business problem and showed a prototype.

Project planning & team coordination

I planned the work and coordinated the organizing team. I also sequenced the workshop, build period, judging, presentations, and day-of operations.

Judges, sponsors & workshop support

I reached out to judges and sponsors and found a speaker for a workshop. Unlike the earlier large-scale hackathon proposal, this time we secured sponsors.

Marketing, flyer & website

I helped with marketing and created the hackathon flyer with generative AI using Gemini Nano Banana Pro. With the organizing team, I also helped build the Foster AI Day website by vibe coding (describing what you want in plain language and letting an AI tool write the code) in Lovable, then maintained and updated its hackathon section.

Day-of delivery

I led hackathon operations on the day and coordinated the team through the transitions between learning, building, judging, and presentations.

The hackathon flyer

I created the flyer with generative AI using Gemini Nano Banana Pro. It tells students that no coding experience is required, that the problem is a real business one, and that they will build with AI tools.

AI Spark vibe-coding hackathon flyer: May 15, 2026, Founders Hall Room 370; beginner-friendly, no coding experience required, and over $1,000 in prizes.
The hackathon flyer: May 15, 2026, Founders Hall Room 370, beginner-friendly.
Download flyer ↓

Inside the event

The Foster AI Day organizing team gathered with AI Spark banners and posters.
The organizing team behind AI Spark.
A speaker addressing the audience in front of an AI Spark presentation.
One of the AI Day talks.
A speaker at the lectern with AI Spark projected behind him.
A speaker at Foster AI Day.
Hackathon participants gathered with laptops in the Founders Hall classroom.
The hackathon in Founders Hall.
Participants and judges seated in the hackathon classroom.
Participants and judges in the room.
Rows of participants watching the front of the hackathon room.
Following along from the seats.
Two participants demonstrating their work at the front of the classroom.
A team demoing its prototype.
A team presenting its solution with a problem overview projected behind them.
A team walking through its problem and solution.
Nicolas at a laptop alongside another person in the AI Spark hackathon room.
Me during the hackathon.
AI Spark event banner outside a room with an audience.
AI Spark, May 15, 2026.
A group of hackathon participants working together around laptops.
Teams building together.
Two participants discussing work at a laptop.
Working through an idea.
Hackathon participants smiling and discussing a laptop screen.
A team reviewing its work.
A team gathered around laptops in the hackathon classroom.
Building during the hackathon.
Several rows of participants working on laptops in a classroom.
The build session.
An AI Spark participant seated at a laptop.
A participant at work.
An inflatable Husky mascot in front of a Foster School of Business backdrop.
The Husky mascot showed up too.
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The event website & coverage

I helped build the Foster AI Day website as part of a team vibe-coding in Lovable. I maintained and updated the hackathon section, which promoted the event and explained the challenge and the day’s format to participants.

Website built with

  • Lovable

THE LESSON

What made the hackathon work

A tool on its own was not enough. Participants needed a clear problem, a manageable build window, workshop support, and explicit judging criteria to get from curiosity to something they could demonstrate.

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